When I was in my teens and twenties this was widely touted as the greatest rock and roll record of all time . In the last 30+ years has anything come along to knock it off its perch ?

LOL at the Captain, old STW at its best.

Personally I’d put Kashmir way above stairway out of Zepplin’s stuff .

On radio 1 years ago a female artist did a cover of this in the live lounge and it was brilliant. For the life of me, I can’t remember who it was, it was someone who would never think of doing it and I have never been able to find out or remember who it was.

I always remember her saying her brother would love her to do some Pink Floyd covers but never has.

Zeppelin didn’t even do the best version

While I enjoy listening to the music, all of led zeps songs lyrics are cheesey garbage, IMO you can’t claim the title of greatest when a major element is done so badly.

I love that Heart version 🙂

Good but they did better themselves and then there’s this

You’re all wrong, and this was a year before STH. We can now end this thread and get on with our lives:

Lissie? Radio2 live lounge

I could play “Stairway To Heaven” when I was 12. Jimmy Page didn’t actually write it until he was 22. I think that says quite a lot.

Just imagine Stairway with some decent lyrics. It would be awesome.

Zepplin are a rock band really, Nirvana are much closer to the spirit of rock ‘n roll, I always think of rock ‘n roll as being about adolescent rebellion and teenage hormones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck berry and Elvis. It kind of died out in the 50’s, only to be revived when punk came along.

Rock music is all about riffs, and if were talking riffs…..

Frank Zappa said this is the best riff ever and I’m not inclined to disagree with him.

I could play “Stairway To Heaven” when I was 12. Jimmy Page didn’t actually write it until he was 22. I think that says quite a lot

Yeah, but it’s no “Warrior of Genghis Khan”.

anything by Pixies, the band that inspired all the bands you’ve subsequently heard of from that genre.

Good call fingerbang. The proto punk of the Stooges definitely has the rock ‘n roll DNA.

And another musing about what differentiates rock ‘n roll from rock:

rock ‘n roll needs to appeal to both (all) genders equally in order to be truly called such.

Zeppelin didn’t even do the best version

<small class=”bbp-reply-post-date”>Posted 40 minutes ago</small>

so true. This version is brilliant

Theotherjohn,

The light and shade, transitions and tempo changes of both the Pixies and Nirvana are straight out of Sabbath. The band that inspired the bands you’ve subsequently heard of from many genres.

Much prefer Eddie Cochran’s original. Led Zep couldn’t even do the do wop wops
“Best” in music? silly game innit.

Silly games?

Oops……wrong genre.

TOTP in those days was always lip syncing, kind of spoils it when trying to take artists seriously.

It’s more of a cheesy folkrock ballad tbh. (albeit with a rocking solo. Can’t deny)

Dazed and Confused (esp at Madison Square Garden) live is 100x more rock and roll. Startling.

But my vote today goes to one of the many Japanese bands that took Zeppelin to the next level. They idolised Zeppelin and Sabbath so took that 70s soulful dinosaur/heavy rock and injected it with some surreal+anarchic+goofy southern-blues vs Tokyo punk and Motor City garage band rawness. Zep were too up their own to go to that sort of level. And anyway, The MC5 had gotten there already some years earlier, along with Stooges. I love 1990s Tokyo for taking rock and roll further out there, when everyone else and their dog were getting all self-worshipful again.

Dynamite Blues Quartet.

Amazing.

Oops……wrong genre

Some kind of pop-reggae innit? Quite weirdly minimal. Never batted an eyelid at odd stuff like this on totp back then did we

I could play “Stairway To Heaven” when I was 12. Jimmy Page didn’t actually write it until he was 22. I think that says quite a lot.

It says that you’re very good at copying what someone else had created.
Now, if you can show us something unique that YOU created at that age, we might be more impressed. Anyone can learn to copy, not so many to create something that’s uniquely theirs.
And yes, I’m impressed by the fact that you were prepared to put in that much effort, but it’s still just a copy. I learned a few chords, but I recognised very early on that I don’t have an ounce of creativity in my body, so what’s the point?

Personally I’d put Kashmir way above stairway out of Zepplin’s stuff .

Can’t argue with that, I’ve seen Kashmir and Trampled underfoot played live by Zeppelin, on the Physical Grafitti Tour – just mesmerising.
Thing is, Plant once described Zeppelin as the world’s loudest folk band, and he’s not wrong, they were never really a metal band; just listen to Zep III, or The Battle Of Evermore, sure the lyrics are a bit trite, but the Tolkien references were everywhere at the time, and it’s no coincidence that the only singer outside of the band to record a vocal with them was Sandy Denny, of Fairport Convention, one of the finest folk singer/songwriters this country has ever produced, from one of the greatest folk-rock bands.

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anything by Pixies, the band that inspired all the bands you’ve subsequently heard of from

Ehh?

DezB,

It’s the first ‘Lovers Rock’ tune, (so could tenuously qualify for this thread by virtue of having ‘rock’ in the genre title!)

Lovers Rock was the first British born sub-genre of reggae, so you can trace its legacy all the way through to grime!

anything by Pixies, the band that inspired all the bands you’ve subsequently heard of from that genre.

What genre’s that, then? Great band, I love them, but they’re a 90’s band, not 70’s.

A bit non plussed by Stairway really and as noted above Kashmir was a far better song. Zep isn’t really my thing for regular listening but Stairway was imo surpassed by its own writers and performers.

Depends a bit too what you mean by rock and roll. The thing about Stairway and Freebird and the tunes from that era was that they appear pretty mainstream in terms of the way rock, punk and metal went after.

If you went with rock stretching out into the punk, grunge and metal areas there’s plenty I’d put above Stairway as better to listen to BUT that’s not necessarily the point of “greatest”. It’s like greatest hits it’s a popularity thing not a quality thing.

I like all the symbolism in Zepplin’s music, ‘spring clean for the may queen!’ and all the lord of the rings stuff, it’s great, even if it was just for effect.
anyway,, here’s my submission, is it better than stairway? no but it’s up there.
this song is just the epitome of cool and rock n’ roll.

It says that you’re very good at copying what someone else had created.
Now, if you can show us something unique that YOU created at that age, we might be more impressed. Anyone can learn to copy, not so many to create something that’s uniquely theirs.

You don’t know that is a quote from Bad News do you?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_News_(band)

Countzero you can’t just learn a few chords and decide you have no creativity, if you can play two notes you’ve created something, then add a few more for extra effect.
Music either hits the spot or not, I would say Nothing else matters by Metallica is a great piece, starts with just playing the open strings on the guitar, simple but so effective.
Music is coloured by how you feel when you hear it, I find some pieces have me shaking with emotion on occasion.
You like what you like, if you don’t why bother criticising because it may mean a lot to some people.
This rule obviously doesn’t apply to Spandau Ballet.

This rule obviously doesn’t apply to Spandau Ballet.

Never a truer word 😆

 if you can play two notes you’ve created something, then add a few more for extra effect.

“One chord is fine, two chords is pushing it, three chords and you’re dangerously into jazz territory” – Lou Reed

Great track, amongst many others. I get the folk rock thing. In Ramble On I always thought he sang “in the darkest depth of Morden”, which might actually be more horrific than the mythical place he was referencing.

I’ll see your Pixies and raise you Sonic Youth in that they have influenced all alternative music since they were born, including the Pixies. Is this song greater than Stairway? Very different.

@countzero

the question was

[STH] the greatest rock and roll record of all time . In the last 30+ years has anything come along to knock it off its perch ?

not ‘name another good 70’s song’ or indeed ‘what’s the greatest RnR record of all time’ (although I’ll give you that’s insinuated, if you accept STH is commonly thought of as the greatest – but I don’t)

I reckon pretty much anything by Pixies is better than STH. There, I said it twice now, ‘cos it’s true.

NB not saying Pixies have written the greatest RNR song ever either. I don’t know what that is….but it’s not STH. John Peel said it was Teenage Kicks, FWIW.

It says that you’re very good at copying what someone else had created.

Brilliant way to not get a joke 😂